Publications

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Racial Discrimination in Tibet (2000)

Discrimination in Healthcare

Medicinal Resources and Discriminatory Distribution

The Swiss Red Cross also discovered that a large number of health institutions across the Tibetan region are hopelessly under-resourced in terms of dispensable medicine, and concluded that "the lack of drugs at all levels"deters people from using the health services." This was further confirmed by European doctors who spent a number of months working in Tibetan hospitals and who reported that "Useless drugs abound. Few really essential drugs were seen. The system needs a good overhaul." Even in the areas where medicine is available, discrimination against Tibetans is widespread and sometimes actively encouraged, as exposed by The International Campaign for Tibet:

"According to a Chinese doctor in the town of Hongyuan, in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Region" the hospital administration actively encourages doctors to prescribe expensive medicines to Tibetans, for which they get a kickback equivalent to about one-third of their monthly wage."

Corrupt medical practices were also uncovered by the Alliance for Research in Tibet, who found that patients were once again being manipulated in the name of greed:

"Hospitals routinely refuse to dispense drugs at State-mandated prices, claiming they have no stock and instructing patients to buy prescribed medicines from ‘private' clinics at ‘market' prices. ‘Private' clinics are often operated by hospital staff or officials and serve as outlets for hospital inventory at inflated prices."

Many refugees also report that Tibetans are purposely given incorrect or expired medicine because the doctors know that many Tibetans, particularly nomads and those from rural areas, are uneducated, illiterate and therefore ignorant of such abuse.

Kunchok Lobsang, 22, lived in Serchul County, Ganzi "TAP", Sichuan Province before escaping to India in January 2000. "There were no medical facilities in my village, but there was a small clinic in the township where fees for a brief consultation are 13 yuan. There is also a county hospital, but Tibetans don't like to go there because it is too far away and much too expensive. We have to put our trust in the township clinic, yet the Chinese doctors there take advantage of the fact that nomads have only a little education, and sell them expired or incorrect medicine. This also happens in the hospital, and many people have died as a result. I have seen one case with my own eyes: A man from my village was suffering from lung problems and was admitted to the county hospital after paying an advance deposit of 700 yuan. He was then treated with the wrong injection and expired medicines, and three days later he died. We know this because a man from my village who had been to school was with him. Despite the doctor's malpractice, his family still had to pay 300 yuan for his bed and for the medicine that killed him."

Dhundup also confirmed that similar malpractice occurred in his region of Golog "TAP", Qinghai Province. He told TCHRD in January 2000 "The medicine in our local clinic was always out of date. The main county hospital would pass on expired medicine to our clinic to sell because most of the people in my area were poor and uneducated nomads who couldn't tell the difference. So even when we had enough money to buy the drugs, they didn't help our sickness. Sometimes they made our condition even worse."

Numerous other refugees report that doctors in healthcare, particularly in the larger hospitals and clinics, continue to prioritise money over quality of treatment and care. One member of the hospital staff at the Lhasa City Hospital confirmed that "it used to be a good hospital, but now it is just for the sake of generating income." Tibetans who are therefore finally admitted to hospital after paying the extortionate deposits then find themselves bewildered under the weight of numerous other costs incurred by "bed charges" and "necessary tests".

Tashi fled to India in October 1997 after spending more than one month in Shigatse People's Hospital in 1995. "I was forced to pay an incredible amount of money - 1,000 yuan for the initial deposit, 20 yuan per night for the bed, 200 yuan for each bottle of glucose, and even more money for the checkups. The doctors would come round the Tibetan patients and collect the money from their relatives, but I never saw them do this for the Chinese patients. While I was in there, I saw two Tibetans die after being denied treatment. Gyalpo, a 47 year-old man from Shalu in Shigatse, came in with a critical lung and liver problem, but was refused admission because he didn't have enough for the deposit. Another man from Tsongdu in Shigatse also died for the same reason. Doctors are only interested in money in Tibet, and I never felt that anyone really wanted to help me."

A Tibetan woman, also from Shigatse, arrived in India in January 2000 and told TCHRD about the time her relative spent in the People's Hospital. "When my cousin broke his leg we had to pay 1500 yuan to admit him to the hospital. Although he only spent 20 days there, the total bill for his treatment came to 2700 yuan. While visiting him, I spoke to some of the Chinese patients who were in the same ward for broken limbs. They also had to pay, but much less than my cousin, and none of them had had to pay a deposit."

Rinchen, a 25 year-old monk from Dzogang County, Chamdo Prefecture, fled Tibet in December 1999. "The health facilities in my area were very poor. When someone fell ill, they would have to go to the county hospital which was a long way away from my village. Sometimes the person would be too sick to travel, and then we send a message to the doctors to ask for a home visit. Usually they said no, but when they did come they charged us 300-400 yuan. This was on top of the cost of the treatment, which would usually amount to more than 1,000 yuan. Mostly the doctors do not care about the patient's health - all they look for is the money. If a patient received treatment but was then unable to pay the medical centre would report them to the Dzogang County Head Office, and the family would later be fined. I never heard of this happening to Chinese patients."